


Man on the Moon

by ipskip (last7)



Category: SHINee
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Reminiscing, jonghyun lives on the moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 03:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17154710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/last7/pseuds/ipskip
Summary: It was like a broken walkie talkie where he could hear their messages but they couldn’t hear him. No matter, he would be listening, glad to hear their voices, their worries, and their little joys.





	Man on the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> For Jonghyun, our shining light.

He liked it here on the Moon.

 

It was cold and dark and it was just the way he preferred it.

 

When he first got here it was quite barren, rocky, and nowhere for him to set up his books or anywhere for him to write. It was dusty and more than a little dull. But, in no time, he set to work on the small patch of the surface that he decided to call his room, thinking of what would make it a little more homey and cozy.

 

Before the day was over he had transformed his borderless territory into a small personal paradise. High pile rugs in deep maroon shades lay underfoot and in a corner a spacious king size bed covered in the softest dark sheets and duvets where he would spend many hours lying on his back staring, counting, naming the stars that twinkled in the inexplicable expanse. Scented candles were a must. He happily placed the everlasting flames on all the surfaces that he pleased, paying no attention to practicality or fire safety - none of that mattered here. Last of all, he positioned his desk in the direction of Earth so that he would have a beautiful view as he wrote whatever was on his mind at that moment; music, stories, or letters, or even bad doodles.

 

Settling into the deep seat of his desk chair and in a well practiced routine, once again twiddled the single knob of a battered analogue radio, searching for his friends’ frequencies. It was like a broken walkie talkie where he could hear their messages but they couldn’t hear him. No matter, he would be listening, glad to hear their voices, their worries, and their little joys. He missed them dearly.

 

Finally finding the right band, he wriggled into his cushions to get more comfortable and with his chin resting in a hand, wondered what his friends wanted to talk to him about today. The crackles faded and the first voice floated out...

 

-

 

Minho was at a sushi train restaurant with a couple of castmates, making the most of the break in filming. 

 

His appetite was especially big tonight and the speed with which he had picked dishes off the belt and shoved the contents under the lid into his mouth resulted in a small fort of wonky piles of plates.

 

He recalled the time he and Jonghyun hyung went to a place very similar to the one he was in now, stacking empty plates one by one against the other, seeing who could eat the most. Hyung would at times exclaim at how tasty a piece of nigiri was and urge him to try it, then accuse him of cheating, and absent-mindedly say, like he had many times before, that he was so tall because he ate so much. Obviously, he had won and Jonghyun lost and had complained about it on twitter.

 

“Guus Hiddink? Really?”

 

“You should be ashamed of your puns.”

 

“What’s wrong with them? You don’t complain about Jinki hyung’s.”

 

“That’s because it’s Jinki hyung.”

 

Now, in the noisy present, he raised his beer to noone in particular but really to his hyung and gave a silent toast, “Jonghyunnie hyung, wherever you are I hope that you’re having a delicious meal and also I wanted to remind you... I beat you that time.”

 

-

 

Kibum was busy preparing for his Japanese solo debut. Meetings upon meetings where if he wasn’t home by nine at night he would start thinking about his dogs and wonder if they would remember who he was when he came through the door - he was spending so much time away from them.

 

They really were his children because no matter how annoying they got he could never stay mad. They were his calming balm at the end of a long day, wet noses and soft fur scrambling excitedly at the sight of him and when he lay tired on the couch Comme des would rest on his chest and Garçon on his lap and he would feel like the most content parent in the world.

 

He had tuned into Jonghyun’s radio show on the night that he debuted End of a Day and thought it was the most soothing thing he had heard in a long time. It only contained piano and his voice, so pure and emotionally vulnerable that he got a little misty-eyed listening to it.

 

01:37

 

**ah jjong you nearly made me cry**

 

_ hm? _

 

**your new song**

 

_ i didn’t mean to _

 

**yes you did**

 

_ ok maybe  _

 

**anyway it’s really good**

 

_ thanks :) _

 

Some day he would write a song about coming home to his pups, just like Jonghyunnie hyung did about Roo. Some day he would write a masterpiece like End of a Day.

 

“You must be missing Roo a lot. She misses you too but you don’t need to worry, she’s healthy and eating well and looks as beautiful as ever… I never once said she was ugly… I want to write a song about my two kids, would you lend me your musical genius, hyung? 

 

\- 

 

Taemin was on one of his regular social media monitoring rounds and decided to join a group chat since he hadn’t done it in months. He always thought his fans were funny and sweet but he had to be careful about how he acted - the last time he was in one he was kicked out for a little joke. No hard feelings though.

 

There was a time when he was bored in the dorm and for something to do he chose a random Taemin group chat and touched “join”. Scrolling through the texts and pictures, he smiled gently to himself and even burst out laughing at some of them. 

 

“Taeminnie,” called an enquiring voice from the other room.

 

“What?”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Nothing.” 

 

He continued scrolling and laughing silently, occasionally typing a request or reacting to an especially funny photo of himself. His face could make those expressions??

 

“You’re in a chat group, aren’t you?”

 

Frowning, he looked up from his phone, confused. “Yeah..?”

 

He got off the couch and slippered to the doorway of the kitchen.

 

“How did you know, hyung?”

 

Jonghyun was at the dining table, phone in one hand and the other in a bag of lemon gummies.

 

“Only a narcissist like you would ask for something as specific as - what was it… ah yes, ‘his square philtrum and his nose mole in the same photo. I think they’re his most endearing physical features!’” He giggled.

 

“I was only testing them to see how dedicated they are. They gave me more than I expected. Wait… You didn’t answer my question! How  _ do _ you know?”

 

“I’m in the same chat.” Jonghyun showed his phone screen to him and grinned, pleased as punch. “And you liked my photo the most.”

 

“Hyung!”

 

As he looked through his gallery for something to post in the new chat he came across the same picture and smiled. He needed some lemon gummies.

 

-

 

Jinki thought the army wasn’t too bad. He hadn’t been looking forward to it but nor had he been dreading it. It was a nice change from civilian life. However, now that he thought about it, it wasn’t too different to the early days of Shinee with the strict regimented activities and being shepherded from one place to the other. Although one thing he definitely thought the military did better was food.

 

He thought back to the day of his enlistment where his members came to send him off. He had told them that they didn’t have to while secretly hoping they would scold him and say, of course they’d come, what was he thinking? and he was so happy when they did exactly that, leaving their schedules free for that afternoon.

 

Jonghyun would have come too. Born in different years but only four months apart, he would have had to enter the army soon after himself but he had the distinct impression that the army wouldn’t have agreed with Jonghyun. Both in the sense of being ordered around and in the sense of compulsory military service, which he opposed.

 

Being the oldest and the first in the group to have to enlist, they had had a number of conversations on the topic. One which he remembered took place on the rooftop of their hotel in Tokyo, lounging in a summer heat that he wished would permeate through the winter padding he was wearing now but the sky was clear just like tonight, the stars peeping and the moon shining.

 

“Don’t you think it’s pretty much the same as when we started out as Shinee though?”

 

“Yeah, but that’s something that I love doing. Those crazy hours were all worth it because we were performing and making music and I was with you guys.”

 

“And military service is not that.”

 

“Military service is none of those things.”

 

“You still need to go though.”

 

“I’ve long resigned myself. None of us should be forced to do it but it is what it is.”

 

“Will you send me off?”

 

“Of course I will, hyung. I’m not as bad a friend as that.”

 

Jinki turned his gaze to the bright moon, his breath visible as it condensed in the freezing night air, and took a good look at the low hanging crescent before going back into the warm dorm.

 

-

 

The beautiful blue marble floated serenely in front of him, the crackle of static faded back in. He sat back with eyes shut, letting the white noise envelop him while he fondly sifted through the snippets of memories that his friends showed him. There were various levels of fogginess surrounding each but they were familiar all the same. He absorbed and carefully stored them in a corner of his mind which, he had discovered upon making the Moon his home, had never been more spacious.

 

However, there was a distant ache in his chest whenever he heard their voices; the remnants, he thought, of a deep yearning that had dulled with time. But now, all he longed for was their happiness and it was good to learn that they were all doing well. He wanted them to be well, so much. 

 

He switched the radio off, breaking the warm cocoon of white noise and turned to the electric keyboard to his left. Inspiration welled up in him after every one of these episodes that he had started calling it “friendspiration”.

 

Fingers itching, he played an experimental chord and whiled away the time making music until he felt tired and wanted to do something else which he did and so on and so forth and before he knew it it was time to listen to his friends’ stories once again.

 

The radio sat expectantly on his desk, waiting for him to reach out and find the right band. He wriggled into his cushions to get more comfortable and with his chin resting in a hand, wondered what his friends wanted to talk to him about today. The crackles faded and the first voice floated out...

**Author's Note:**

> I doubt this concept is original but I wanted to share my version as it brought a little bit of comfort writing our Jonghyun living up there on the moon. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Kudos and comments always welcome :)


End file.
